Non-profit organizations in Herkimer and Oneida counties are feeling a spring in their step this month, following an announcement from The Community Foundation.
The foundation’s most recent grants will be used to fund a wide range of projects, from work stations for bicycle repair to flood emergency preparedness training.
The charitable foundation that awards grants monthly to nonprofit entities, invested nearly $800,000 in April and May with the aim of impacting residents in both counties for “years to come.”
Communications and Marketing Director Cassaundra Baber said the foundation believes each of the nonprofit organizations receiving funds will have an impact on their communities.
“In the past few years the foundation has been transitioning from a responsive agency into an investor. We looked at our role in the community, and took steps to ensure we know what our community needs,” Baber said.
One of the communities greatest needs, Baber said, is reliable transportation and the knowledge of how to care for it.
Matt van Slyke, of the Utica Bike Rescue, said the $42,063, the organization received from the foundation will be used to expand their repair workshops. They also will offer several programs that teach economically disadvantaged adults and children how to repair and maintain their bicycles, which otherwise would be discarded or unused.
“We’re going to be able to establish our community bicycle workshop more among those who need the service, because those funds will be used to purchase bicycle-shop quality tools and parts. The way we operate now is using donated tools and used parts,” Slyke said.
Following concerns from heavy floods across central New York in 2013, a $50,000 grant to the American Red Cross of CNY seeks to ensure that residents are prepared in areas that flooding is still a concern.
Read more: http://www.uticaod.com/article/20140524/News/140529665#ixzz32vNy0FCp
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